Surprise, surprise: Apple approves Spotify music streaming iPhone app

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Apple has approved Spotify, the music streaming app for iPhone and iPod touch that challenges iTunes’ a la carte sales model. The app is provided free of charge, but it requires a premium subscription plan in order to work. Meanwhile, Apple watchers are pointing their fingers at iTunes’ lack of music subscriptions, stressing that Apple won’t loose a thing by allowing the Spotify service to run on the iPhone.

According to paidContent.org, Apple has approved Spotify’s music streaming iPhone app that rivals the iTunes’ all-you-can-eat model with a comprehensive, free library of millions of songs. The site quoted an Apple spokesperson who said the following:

The current status as of right now is it’s been approved and we hope to add the app to the more than 65,000 apps on the app store very soon. We’ve been in constant communication working with the developer and have already notified Spotify that the app will be in the app store very soon.

Spotify’s spokesman Jim Butcher confirmed the news Thursday. Daniel Ek, the founder of the Swedish-based music streaming company, told BBC News they were “thrilled” with the outcome of Apple’s infamous approval process..

The Spotify music streaming app should appear within days in the App Store in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France and Spain. In addition to the CD-quality music streaming, the app will let you stream playlists and store them temporarily on the device.

Although the Spotify app in itself is provided at no cost, it does require a monthly or annual premium subscription to the Spotify service in order to work. That sum basically buys you an ad-free environment and a CD-quality streaming.

The company founder isn’t worried at all that users might dump the app because of the subscription requirement. On the contrary, Ek is convinced the move will increase the number of premium subscribers, adding that the company is already “scaling up the systems” in order to meet a “tremendous response.”

The Spotify service isn’t yet available in the U.S., but the company hopes to launch it here by the end of the year, although there’s a catch: U.S. consumers will only get a PC version because Spotify has no plans to bring the service to mobile phones in the U.S, despite the fact that the iPhone app is a go and an Android version currently being developed.

Speak Your Mind

isjamp

Can anyone confirm the statement at end of article above that Spotify has no intention of going mobile in the US but rather will be available solely on the PC??! I have never heard or seen that kind of statement in any article before and am very interested in tring to determine if it is accurate or not. It is a big enough detail to know for sure as it makes the competitive landscape for mobile music services quite different…

Christian Zibreg

@isjamp I am working on getting this sorted out with Spotify and will post an update once they get back to me.

isjamp

Thanks, look forward to it. I tried to get an answer from them but, as to be expected, got a very prompt and polite non comittal non answer :-). I’m sure you have a more direct channel and will have success getting an answer. Thanks again!

LanaLang

Spotify music is a fantastic app. But I think this will not replace my WIFI2HIFI app as my preferred music choice: http://www.wifi2hifi.com/